This invention relates to coin dispensing equipment used in packaging or wrapping coins, and particularly to a count mechanism for counting and controlling the feeding of coins from a coin dispenser.
Coin dispensing equipment is employed to form coins of a single denomination into a single file and to feed the coins seriatum to a point where they may be packaged in preformed paper rolls or bags, or to deliver them to automatic wrapping equipment which forms the coins into stacks of a predetermined quantity and thereafter automatically wraps the stack in a web of paper or other sheet material. An example of coin packaging machines is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,768, issued Mar. 7, 1961 to Buchholz et al. An example of the automatic coin wrapping machine is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,151, issued May 16, 1978, to Bergman et al.
Whether the dispenser is incorporated into a coin packager or into an automatic wrapper, it is necessary to be able to count the flow of coins from the dispenser and to have the capability of halting the flow once a predetermined count has been reached. The predetermined count may be either that which is necessary to form a single roll of coins or that which is necessary to fill a standard bag with a particular denomination of coin.
The coin dispenser mechanism typically includes a horizontal rotating disc forming the bottom of a hopper in which coins are deposited. As the disc rotates, coins on its surface are formed into a single file at its periphery by centrifugal force. The single file of coins is fed to a coin track where the coins are engaged by a driven roller or belt and forced past a multipointed wheel, known as a star wheel, which is indexed a finite amount by the passage of each coin. The indexing of the star wheel is typically employed to count the coins. The counting may be accomplished through a mechanical mechanism responsive to the rotation of the shaft which mounts the star wheel, such as illustrated in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,768, or it may be accomplished by electrical pulses produced by rotation of the shaft, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,658, issued Apr. 19, 1966, to Buchholz et al. In either of these two cases, whether the count is produced mechanically or electrically, the count is employed to trigger a complex mechanical linkage which halts the rotation of the shaft mounting the star wheel when a predetermined count has been achieved. Another example of the use of the rotation of the star wheel shaft to produce electrical pulses used for counting is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,788, issued Aug. 12, 1980 to Watanabe.
The count mechanism of this invention produces electrical pulses to accurately register the counting of coins and provides a simplified mechanical arrangement to physically halt the rotation of the star wheel upon a signal that the proper count has been achieved. The count mechanism produces the electrical pulses by the use of optical sensors which use a beam of light reflected off of the surface of the rotating star wheel.